Photo: Fox News / Twitter
Gen X shut them all down real quick.
By Alice Kelly — Written on Mar 16, 2021
According to author Matthew Hennessey, Senator Ted Cruz and Fox News, it should be Gen X’s job to cancel "cancel culture."
According to Generation X, if they could just leave them out of it, that would be great.
Generation X has been laughing Fox News into oblivion after the network tried to enlist their help in putting an end to cancel culture.
The heavily exaggerated war between hard-line Boomers and their politically correct arch-enemies, I.e., Millenials and Gen Z, reached new heights in this week's battle.
But Gen Xers were quick to point out that no one puts baby in a corner can tell them what to do.
The latest round of cross-generational drama was ignited by Hennessey's recent column in the NY Post, titled "Cancel culture is out of control — and Gen X is our only hope."
Hennessey, also the deputy op-ed editor at The Wall Street Journal, tells (though, we're sure he thinks he asked) his fellow Gen Xers to join him and Baby Boomers in their heroic efforts to "spare our own kids having to live in the new East Germany these woke maniacs are trying to build."
In a move that may well have made Hennessey's day, his article was soon shared by Senator Ted Cruz, inevitably leading Fox News to pick it up from there. The network aired a segment urged Gen X to “save America” from social media users calling out instances of racism, misogyny, homophobia, and more.
Cancel culture has become a favored right-wing talking-point, often leveraged against leftists and the younger generations, particularly Gen Z.
The back and forth is constant.
Young people call out what they view as outdated or offensive lyrics, statements, books, or celebrities. The older generation accuses them of being hyper-sensitive and trying to cancel everything.
But this latest ploy to drag Gen X into the debate backfired — massively.
The Fox News segment on Hennessey's piece and the call for Gen X to take down cancel culture proposed: "Generation X to lead the charge to save America from the social media mob. Can they do it?"
Gen X responded: Could you please leave us alone (like you've always done)? Thanks.
Generation X is not a generation you want to mess with.
Fox News, Cruz and Hennessy appear to have a misguided understanding of Gen X and their stance on such matters.
Hennessey, who seems to fancy himself a bit of a Gen X pied piper, does try super hard to get his generational peers on board.
“First it was Huck Finn," Hennessey begins. "We grew up in a country that didn’t ban books."
When citing the banning of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as an example of cancel culture's wrath, what Henessey somehow doesn't know (or decided to omit) is the fact that this particular Mark Twain classic has been banned somewhere every single year since it was first published in 1885.
Hennessey also seems to forget that Gen X was there to bear witness when Boomers banned "The Color Purple," "Beloved," and even "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaraet" from their schools and libraries.
And that they cheered on Sinead O’Connor for her bravery when she “canceled” the Pope live on "SNL."
Don’t tell Gen X who and what they should support, please. They don't play that way.
Gen X is also the post-civil rights generation, the purveyors of the punk revolution and “sticking it to the man.”
Gen X was among the first to use the internet.
They pulled down the Berlin wall and fought for the end of apartheid in South Africa.
This is not a generation that looks down on Gen Z for challenging the status quo even, or maybe especially, if Fox News tells them to.
In fact, Gen Xers are the ones raising their Gen Z kids to make these choices.
Plenty of Gen Xers were quick to point out that not only do they not appreciate being called on to unteach what they've purposely taught their kids, but they wouldn’t soon be taking orders from the Boomers who've strapped them with enough debt to ruin their retirement plans.
Gen X has watched as Boomers tried to cancel Bart Simpson, food stamps, Medicare, video games, and more.
They saw the War on Drugs not only fail, but cause direct harm to the people they were promised It was meant to protect.
And anyway, they're tired.
So sorry, fellas. You’re going to have to find someone else to fight your battles for you.
Alice Kelly is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Catch her covering all things social justice, news, and entertainment.